Name Game

My husband and I are playing an epic game of Name the Baby.  Here's how it goes:  I suggest a name, he shoots it down by suggesting a rhyming or otherwise ridiculous middle name to go along with it.  Or just a negative association.

Ready?  Go.

Me:  Theodore.
Joe:  Teddy Rup-skin. [editorial note: he means Teddy Ruxpin]
Me:  Arthur.
Joe:  Arthur Barthur [Last name].
Me:  And Andrew is out for sure?
Joe:  I don't really like Andy.
Me:  Well, what about Drew?
Joe:  It's kind of...douchebaggery.

Me:  Samuel?
Joe:  Mmmm, maybe.
Me:  Richard?
Joe:  Richard is Dick.

Right now I really like Matias (or Mattias, or Matthias, as long as you still pronounce it with a "Tee", not a "Thigh", in the middle).  Matias Charles.  That's my pick right now, as of this very moment.  Meets all the major requirements, as far as I'm concerned.  Family names?  Check.  Fairly traditional?  Check.  Mostly pronounceable?  Check.  Gives me a good feeling?  Check.

But Joe says that he can't tell what the spirit-of-the-baby is calling himself yet.  This is an inside joke.  For those of you who aren't from California or have never overheard a conversation between new-parent hippies, the spirit-of-the-baby is an unintentionally hilarious construct that tries to suss out a newborn's....I don't know....spirit?  Like, in early infancy, or even before the baby is born.  In any case, it's when they're still at the cherished, sleeping paperweight stage.  Without having too much derision for the idea, I can say with some amount of confidence that babies are notoriously difficult to get to know deeply until they're at least a few months old.  Before then, they don't do much except eat, sleep, poop, pee, and require things.  From my fuzzy recollection, there is one defining characteristic of a newborn: they often get pissed off and cry a lot, just because it is developmentally what they are supposed to do and for no other reason.  All of them do, not just some babies.

Naming a child, then (at least for us), is a blind act of faith, as is bringing a child into the world at all.  Who could have known that James is undeniably a James, even though my first reaction to that name when Joe suggested it was, "Uh, no!  That was the name of a strange neighbor kid who stuck two green M&Ms up his nose!"  Or that Will would be perfectly named because of his absurdly strong will?  Little boys grow into their names as gradually and irrevocably as they grow out of a squished, impossibly small, and frail infancy.

In other news, we have our anatomy scan tonight.  (They took a peek last time, and that's when we saw peen).  Hopefully all is well with this little one.

White & Thirty

I turned 30 the other day and finally feel like a grown-up, despite having been initiated into suburban middle-aged life over nine years ago.  Now that I am celebrating my 'white & thirty' (as in, 'white & nerdy' by Weird Al) birthday, I can appreciate that this particular mundanity is awesome, and I could not be luckier.

Laura's List of Other Things That Are Decadently Mundane, Nerdy, and Awesome:
-Will and Joe's competitive hand-clap games, during which Will never says die
-James and his excitement over starting soccer, as he kicks his new ball around the house in his socks
-the fact that our babysitter is engaging and reliable (knock on wood)
-Elise and her willingness to wear an eye patch for four hours a day, so her weak eye gets stronger
-the kids' total enthusiasm over buying me a rice cooker for my birthday
-the fact that we have good health insurance
-the fact that we've met a great local postpartum doula
-the fact that the pool is open for the season, and it's April
-the price of red delicious apples today (97 cents a pound!)
-my blood calcium level, which is currently stable (knock on wood)
-talking with the kids about baby boy names
-the wonderful, hardworking teachers at our kids' school
-Joe's stable, rewarding job
-the good health of Joe and the kids
-knitting
-library books
-leftover BBQ
-the new brakes on our minivan

It's gangsta to be thankful for stuff.

On Kids and Religion...(Spoilers!)

Elise:  Mom, am I Jewish?
Me:  Nope.
Elise:  Well, what am I?
Me:  Hmmm.....I guess, if you want to call us something, you could say we are UU's.
James:  I know what that means.  Ultimate Underpants!
Will:  No.  Unexpected Umbrella!
Elise:  Haha!  Unexpected Underpants!
Me:   UU's means Universal Unitarians.
Elise:  What does that mean?
Me:  We pray for people to be kind to each other?

---

In other news, it's a.....BOY!  We found out today, kind of unexpectedly, at my (17 week) doctor's appointment.  They had warned me that they would probably make us wait until 19 weeks, but I harassed them to take a peek.  Peen and balls!

We found out fairly early with James, at 16.5 weeks.  Will, I don't remember exactly, but I think it was around 16 weeks as well that we knew he was a dude.  Elise was like 20 weeks by the time they even saw me, for some reason, so it took forever to find out her sex.  This time around, I am shocked.  Not that I really had an inkling either way with our other kids, but the pregnancy with Elise seemed different than the first two, with worse nausea.  And this one has been way more along those lines.  Apparently that's no indicator of sex, though!

We told James tonight when we got home from the appointment, since he was still wide awake.  He was absolutely beaming when I went in to kiss him goodnight.  Will was passed out, still wearing today's clothes--must've been that kind of night.  But I am assuming he will be somewhat pleased, because he has been suggesting boy names.  We haven't told Elise yet, and she has been requesting a girl so she might be disappointed.  But we've talked about it lots of times, that it's pretty much up to God, so hopefully she isn't too mad at us.